Mitzvah 50 and 51: Giving a Kohein Meat Portions and Wool Shearings

“This shall be the due of the kohanim from the people, from those who perform a slaughter… the foreleg, the jaw, and the stomach… The first of the shearing of your sheep you shall give him.” (Devarim 18:3-4)

It is a mitzvah to give kohanim three meat portions from every kosher animal that is slaughtered and the first of the wool shearings if one owns at least five sheep (Rambam, Hilchos Bikurim 10:3).

When Pinchas, the grandson of Aharon, risked his life to kill the wicked Kozbi and Zimri, he used his arm to carry a weapon and his mouth to pray for the Jews that were suffering, and he pierced them in the stomach. Thus, kohanim were rewarded with the three portions of the animal’s foreleg, cheeks, and part of its stomach. This teaches us that when we serve Hashem we gain eternal benefits (Sefer HaChinuch, mitzvah 506).